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We have identified a NEW DATE for the Power of Aging Well Health Festival for our older adults. It will take place on Thursday, September 5th from 10 am to 2 pm at Thomas Jefferson Park. Please join us!

In one week from today, Thursday, June 13, 2013, from 10 AM to 2 PM, Melissa, in collaboration with Metropolitan Hospital Center and NYC Department of Aging will hold their Power of Aging Well Annual Health Festival at Thomas Jefferson Park. Please join us for this annual festival that’s dedicated to our senior population. It is always a enjoyable day filled with entertainment, art, exercise and even health screenings. Please help us spread the word to your older family members or neighbors who could benefit from this festival. We hope to see you there!

It is not news that East Harlem faces a challenge with littering. This is a problem that Melissa has previously addressed and is now calling for your help. If you are as tired of litter in our community as we are, please volunteer and join Melissa and our office on Saturday, June 22nd from 10 AM to 1 PM in sweeping our sidewalks, showing our community that we take pride in our neighborhood! For the full flyer and schedule of the days events, please click here.We hope to see you there!

Melissa will be attending East Harlem Family Day on Saturday, June 1st at PS 7’s playground on East 119th & Lexington Avenue. East Harlem Family Day is going to be a day filled with fun activities for the entire family, like rock climbing and pro basketball training – so make sure to stop by!

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Melissa and NYC Department of Sanitation Commissioner John Doherty unveiled a set of upgraded litter baskets on 18 corners in El Barrio/East Harlem on Friday, in an effort to reduce litter along the 3rd Avenue commercial corridor. Melissa allocated $10,000 in discretionary funding in the current fiscal year to cover the cost of the baskets. The upgraded litter baskets offer 25-30% more capacity and help discourage individuals from using these public baskets to deposit commercial or household refuse. Melissa funded the litter baskets after hearing from many residents about the persistent litter problem in the community, including during neighborhood assemblies that are held annually as part of the district’s Participatory Budgeting (PB) process. We would like to thank the Sanitation Department their swift response once we brought the concerns to their attention.

“We have been hearing from across the community a level of frustration regarding the amount of litter on our streets and sidewalks, and I share that frustration,” said Melissa. “Efforts to reduce litter must be multi-pronged and my office is prepared to work with other concerned community stakeholders in seeking to address this persistent problem. The upgraded litter baskets are an important first step in a larger community response to this issue.”

This is just the beginning of Melissa’s efforts to keep East Harlem clean. Our office will be undertaking three programs, in collaboration with the community, to discourage littering and to keep East Harlem clean.

Adopt-A-Basket ProgramMelissa and our office are engaging in efforts to increase participation in the Department of Sanitation’s “Adopt-A-Basket” program among El Barrio/East Harlem businesses. The program is a volunteer program, in which a business, organization or individual agrees to monitor an existing DSNY litter Basket to help prevent overflowing of baskets in areas of high pedestrian traffic. The Department supplies plastic bag liners, a collection schedule and a contact person at the Department’s local district operations office. Participants change the liners when the basket is three quarters full and place the full securely tied liners next to the basket for collection. We hope that East Harlem businesses will commit to sponsor additional upgraded baskets for the community.

Community Clean Sweep DayMelissa and our office will work with a committee of concerned residents to organize a “Community Clean Sweep Day,” currently scheduled for Saturday, June 22, 2013, which will focus on key areas in the El Barrio/East Harlem neighborhood to not only sweep up litter, but to raise the visibility of anti-littering efforts.

Local Heroes CampaignWe will be moving forward with a public campaign to celebrate those who go the extra mile to keep the community clean by designating them “local heroes.” Stay tuned for more details.

If you are interested in getting involved in any of these efforts and/or would like to share other ideas of how to address littering in the community, please contact us through this form.

These buildings are being constructed through the Low Income Rental Program (LIRP) of the New York City Department of Housing Preservation & Development, the Low Income Affordable Marketplace Program (LAMP) of the New York City Housing Development Corporation, and the State Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program (SLIHC) of New York State Homes & Community Renewal (HCR).

Completed applications must be returned by regular mail only to: Harlem River Point North, LLC, P.O Box 820, New York, NY 10113, and must be postmarked by June 27, 2013. Applications postmarked after June 27, 2013 will be set aside for possible future consideration. Applicants will be selected by lottery. Applicants who submit more than one application will be disqualified. Disqualified applications will not be accepted.

Eligible households that include persons with mobility impairments will receive preference for 2% of the units. Current and eligible residents of Manhattan Community Board 11 will receive preference for 50% of the units. Applicants who can document displacement by Hurricane Sandy and/or or its related storms will receive preference for 25% of the units; and eligible City of New York Municipal Employees will receive a 5% preference.

Ever wonder who’s helping that frail elderly person in your building? Search and Care is probably the answer. Search and Care is a local nonprofit social service agency that provides free help for seniors who want to stay in their apartments but have a hard time managing on their own in East Harlem, Yorkville and Carnegie Hill. They will be holding an open house tomorrow, Saturday, May 18th, looking for volunteers who want to make a difference in a life of a senior. Volunteers help in many essential ways. As one of Search and Care’s volunteers, you might choose to a visit with a neighborhood senior, walk a dog for an elder, read to a client who is legally blind, help a frail senior get to and from doctor appointments, or shop for someone who is homebound. If you’re 18 or older (bilingual is a plus) and want to know if this would be a great way for you to give back, or if you want to learn about Search and Care’s services, please RSVP to attend and bring a friend or neighbor. Refreshments will be served.

WHO: Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito, East Harlem Immigrant Service Network, CUNY Citizenship Now, Make the Road New York and the New York Immigration CoalitionWHAT:Community Briefing on Proposed Federal-Level Immigration ReformWHEN: Thursday, May 16th from 9:15 AM to 11:30 AMWHERE: Union Settlement Association (237 East 104th Street, between 2nd & 3rd Avenues)
All attendees should RSVP to Joe Pressley at jpressley@council.nyc.gov or via telephone at 212-828-9800.

It has been a great week in District 8, with hundreds of community members coming out to vote for projects that they believe in.If you haven’t had a chance to vote yet, there’s still time – check out the list of voting sites and times on our PB site, www.mmviverito.com/pbnyc. To conclude the weeklong voting process, the Second Annual Participatory Budgeting Celebration,unveiling the winning projects, will be held on Monday, April 8th from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM at the Johnson Community Center (1833 Lexington Avenue).

We are very excited to announce that our Second Annual Participatory Budgeting Celebration will feature a very special guest, San Juan’s Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz Soto. As you may remember, Melissa had the honor to deliver the keynote at her inauguration. Mayor Carmen Yulín has pledged to implement a PB process in San Juan and is coming to see how the process works in our district.

“It is an incredible honor for me to welcome such an incredible woman and inspiring leader to our city for the first time since being elected Mayor of San Juan,” said Council Member Mark-Viverito. “Mayor Carmen Yulín is bringing a new style of democracy to San Juan. I am truly excited that she has committed to roll out a PB process in the city, which will help bring transparency and direct public input in how the government allocates resources. I look forward to continued collaboration with the Mayor’s administration in continuing to strengthen ties between our two cities and across the Puerto Rican diaspora.”

This Saturday, East Harlem Scholars Academieswill be hosting a School Choice Carnival where you can learn about free elementary school options in East Harlem and even apply on the spot. Of course, there will also be obligatory carnival fun for the whole family to enjoy. This free event is on, rain or shine.

In the wake of last week’s tragic accident that resulted in the death of a 6-year-old boy named Amar Diarrassouba, it is imperative that we address and correct the causes of this tragedy to ensure that an accident like this does not happen again in our district. Melissa, along with Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer and State Assemblyman Robert Rodriguez, held a press conference outside of Diarrassouba’s school. They called on the DOT and NYPD to take a zero tolerance measure against large trucks on non-designated streets, such as the narrow, one-way residential East 117th Street towards First Avenue, where the accident occurred; and to address the possible need for additional crossing guards at busier intersections.

Following the press conference, Melissa wrote to Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan of the DOT and Commissioner Ray Kelly of the NYPD, to open up conversation about traffic enforcement and to make some requests. Please find the letters below. We will make sure to keep you updated on our further collaborative work with the DOT and NYPD on this matter.

Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito released the following statement in response to the tragic accident that resulted in the killing of a 6-year-old boy at 117th Street and 1st Avenue in El Barrio/East Harlem this morning.

“This morning’s heartbreaking accident which led to the death of a 6-year-old boy is an absolute tragedy,” said Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito. “My office has been in touch with the local police precinct throughout the day as investigations continue so that we can understand the specifics of what took place and see what action might be needed to prevent a similar horrific accident from occurring in the future. I offer my most sincere condolences to this child’s family in this extremely difficult time.”

We are urging East Harlem high school students to take advantage of the Museum of the City of New York’s excellent and free Saturday Academy program. Saturday Academy is a free six-week program for students in grades 8 – 12 interested in American History or SAT preparation. There’s no homework or testing and all course materials are provided. Saturday Academy was the recipient of the 2011 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award from the White House, and was featured in New York Magazine’s “Best of New York 2011” issue.

All applications must be received online. TO APPLY, please click on this link and fill out all the required information.The application deadline is Tuesday, March 12.Although East Harlem and Central Harlem students will be given priority seating, enrollment is first-come, first-serve, so please apply early since space is limited! Should you experience any trouble applying online, you may email Saturday.academy@mcny.org or call 917-492-3401 to request that an application be mailed to your home address for you to fill out and return to the Museum of the City of New York.

Though we are already well into the new year, I thought it would be important to reflect on 2012 and some of the important accomplishments that we all achieved together. We held the first-ever Participatory Budgeting vote in the City of New York. We united to defend our community from district lines that would have cut out some of our most vital institutions. We also won protected bike lanes for First and Second Avenues, and helped save two of our local public schools from closure. And those are just a few examples.

Last year was an exciting one for our community and for my office. And there’s a lot to look forward to in 2013.

Last week, Melissa spearheaded a press conference, covered by NY 1, calling on the New York City Department of Education to be in full compliance with New York State guidelines for physical education (PE) in New York City public schools. Recent reports from the American Heart Association and the Women’s City Club of New York have demonstrated a clear need to improve the quality and quantity of PE in New York City. The benefits of PE are far reaching evidence shows that school-based PE leads to improved academic achievement, increased state standardized test scores and a student’s health and overall well-being. PE also improves a child’s cognitive ability and behavior.

Melissa expressed her concern regarding this critical issue saying:

“Providing quality physical education instruction for our children is absolutely critical in a time when our City is facing a staggering childhood obesity epidemic! It is unacceptable that teens in East Harlem (which I represent) are nearly three times less likely to attend a daily gym class than teens in more affluent neighborhoods! And we wonder why our community has one of the highest childhood obesity rates in the city. This is why I spearheaded a letter to the DOE signed by 35 of my colleagues, asking the department about its strategy to improve the quantity and quality of PE instruction in our schools and demanding a plan to address the disparities between schools that have sufficient PE programs and those that do not.”

The East Harlem Center for Living and Learning is located on 104th Street, between Second and Third Avenues on the land within the Washington Houses complex. Thanks to additional Participatory Budgeting funding, Harlem RBI’s K-8 DREAM Charter School will have a permanent home in this new development – and a 54,000-square-foot home to boot. Joining the DREAM Charter School at The East Harlem Center for Living and Learning will be 11-stories that consist of 89 affordable housing units and 6,000-square-feet of non-profit office space. The housing component of this project will be named Yomo Toro Houses, after the legendary Puerto Rican musician who died in July 2012.

The development will further serve the East Harlem community, where the unemployment rate is 16.8% and a median income of $23,000 per year, by providing jobs at Harlem RBI and DREAM Charter School. There will be additional benefits to NYCHA residents of Washington Houses, including a 50% set-aside for the children of Washington Houses for the Harlem RBI charter school enrollment lottery and new playground equipment and trash compactors.

“Harlem RBI continues to find new and innovative ways to help make El Barrio/East Harlem a better place for our youth and families,” said Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito. “This groundbreaking is an incredible milestone on a project that will provide so many benefits to our neighborhood from affordable housing, to improved community space and parkland for El Barrio/East Harlem residents. I thank Harlem RBI for their continued commitment to East Harlem, as well as Jonathan Rose Companies, the Yankees’ Mark Texeira, and of course all the city agencies involved in making this project happen.”

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Official NYC Council Photographs by William Alatriste

The East Harlem Center for Living and Learning’s affordable apartments are scheduled to open in August 2014, with the school and office facilities opening for the 2014-2015 school year. To read more about The East Harlem Center for Living and Learning, click here.

Please join us tonight, Tuesday, February 5th from 6:30 to 8:30 PM for a Know Your Rights! training that will be hosted by Picture the Homeless. Here, you will learn your rights with the NYPD and how to exercise those rights as safely as possible. We will also be holding a Cop Watch! training next Tuesday, February 12th from 6:30 to 8:30 PM, hosted by the Justice Committee. At this training, we will learn how to observe and document police activity in your neighborhood. The ultimate goal of these trainings are to help end discriminatory policing – we believe in standing up and being a part of the solution.

CouncilMember Melissa Mark-Viverito released the following statement today in response to the arrest of Jason Commisso, the suspect in a string of eight muggings targeting Asian American residents of El Barrio/East Harlem:

“Today, we are all breathing a sigh of relief as the suspect behind eight vicious muggings of Asian American East Harlem residents has finally been apprehended by police. These brutal robberies have shaken all of us in the community, but I am happy to say that we had a unified response and came together to denounce this kind of violence.

“First and foremost, I would like to thank NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly, and all of the officers of the 23rd Precinct, who demonstrated such a strong response to this string of attacks. I would also like to thank all of my colleagues in government, Asian American community leaders and residents of El Barrio/East Harlem, who joined me in distributing flyers in the neighborhood this weekend. In particular, I would like to thank Comptroller John Liu and Asian Americans for Equality.

“We will all continue to remain vigilant and ensure that no group of people within our community is made to feel unsafe. All of us in El Barrio/East Harlem, and in every community throughout the city, have the right to live without fear.

“I urge the District Attorney’s office to prosecute this individual to the fullest extent of the law in order to send a message that these acts of violence will not be tolerated.”

Last Thursday, Melissa addressed over 200 East Harlem and South Bronx residents at Taino Tower’s Crystal Room at the East Harlem Stand Up event co-sponsored by Melissa, Justice Committee, Picture the Homeless, and the Bronx Defenders. The town hall forum was meant to address discriminatory policing in our community.

The event included speeches by Comptroller John Liu, as well as organizers who educated participants on their constitutional rights, and what to do and say if you are stopped or harassed by the NYPD. Residents were also given the opportunity to speak out about their experiences with stop and frisk.

Melissa called for the East Harlem community to unite and fight this unconstitutional practice:

“East Harlem has had over 17,000 stops in our 23rd Precinct alone, the highest number in Manhattan. This policy is criminalizing an entire generation of young people in our community!

This is why I introduced a resolution in support of a change in state law that would end the NYPD’s enforcement of small-time marijuana possession during stop-and-frisks, where police would routinely ask individuals to empty their pockets, and upon finding marijuana would arrest them.

This practice was leading to the arrest of more than 50,000 New Yorkers each year, costing over $75 million, money which should instead be invested in youth programs.

This administration has been closing our schools, cutting our after-school programs, and then cracking down on our kids when they’re on the street. This is racial discrimination at its finest!

If the city wants to combat violence in our communities than we have to look at the Root Causes: poverty, unemployment, lack of decent affordable housing or health care or education or recreational programs for our youth. ”

You are invited to attend an MTA public workshop regarding the construction of the Second Avenue Subway.

The goal of this workshop is to maintain an open dialogue between the MTA and the community at large. Attendees will have the opportunity to engage project representatives about current construction activity and the initiatives implemented by the MTA as a direct response to community input from the previous SAS public workshop.

MTA employees and contractors will attend the workshop to facilitate discussion and answer questions.

As some of you may know, the Christmas season in Puerto Rican culture stretches out into January. First with the celebration of Three Kings Day and then, days later with Las Octavitas; the holiday season in Puerto Rico is the most extensive in the world.

With that being said, we hope you can join us on Tuesday, January 22nd from 5:30 to 7:30 PM, in celebrating Las Octavitas with traditional Puerto Rican food and live music. This event is not a religious ceremony, but a celebration of Puerto Rican cultural heritage.

Find out about the impact that the implementation of the Affordable Care Act and other policies can have on maximizing HIV prevention in immigrant communities as well as what resources are available for residents, and more. Did you know that even though death rates due to HIV have decreased in East Harlem in the past decade, our community still has the second highest HIV-related death rate in the city? Stop by to get informed.

The East Harlem Immigrant Service Network is an initiative launched by Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito’s Office out of a desire to support each other as service providers and advocates working with the immigrant community in District 8. The network is open to organizations interested in collaborating and sharing information relating to programming and services, and in discussing issues of immigrant rights, the political environment, and the challenges facing the immigrant community in the district.

Persistence and hard work does pay off. We ended 2012 with the honor of having Melissa’s hard work recognized with a Streetsie for Elected Official of the Year. If you don’t know, Streetsies are given by Streetsblog NYC, which covers all things sustainable transportation and advocates for “progressive policy changes that are saving lives and creating a more sustainable future for New York.”

The winner and Streetsblog’s Elected Official of 2012 is Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito. This was the year that the East Harlem representative’s persistent advocacy for safer streets in her district finally paid off, when the first protected bike lane above 96th Street was installed on Second Avenue. From speaking on the City Hall steps in 2010 to facing down the misinformation campaign against the project in 2011, Mark-Viverito was at the center of the effort to bring complete streets to East Harlem. This wasn’t the first time she’d taken a stand for livable streets, either. Mark-Viverito was the council’s clearest voice for congestion pricing in 2008, and she’s a big proponent of Bus Rapid Transit. If every City Council member was so willing to embrace change, progress would come to NYC streets a lot faster.

On Thursday, January 17th, Melissa will be co-sponsoring a town hall event about discriminatory policing with the Justice Committee. At “East Harlem Stand Up!”, community members will be encouraged to speak out against the NYPD’s Stop & Frisk policy, and the program will also include Know Your Rights training and a discussion of the Community Safety Act which Melissa is co-sponsoring. East Harlem is disproportionately impacted by this policy, with the highest number of stops in Manhattan.

WHO: Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito, The Bronx Defenders, Picture the Homeless, and the Justice CommitteeWHAT: Town Hall on Discriminatory PolicingWHEN: Thursday, January 17th, 6:30 – 8:30 PMWHERE: Taino Towers in the Crystal Room – 240 East 123rd Street* For more information, call 347-676-1878 or email yul-san@justicecommittee.org * Spanish translation, childcare and free food will be provided!

We have one more opportunity to make our voice heard on this important issue. The Districting Commission is holding one more round of hearings in January before passing a final set of district lines. We’ve already showed them how united we are as a community and are being given another chance to prove it to them. Please save these dates and join us in the fight to defend the integrity of our community:

In the wake of the tragic Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, so many across the country are clamoring for aggressive action to tighten restrictions around guns at the federal level. Right here in NYC, leaders and Council Members are also calling for a large-scale gun recovery initiative. This initiative would be a way for the city government to do its part and honor the memories of the 20 children and 6 adults whose lives were cut short last Friday by ensuring that we take steps to reduce the scourge of gun violence.

Melissa supports and stands behind a gun recovery initiative that will help prevent another tragedy, like in Newtown, and instances in our district, from happening again. District 8 has not been a stranger to unnecessary gun violence and tragic murders. The fact is that as crime in NYC has been decreasing, it has been increasing in East Harlem, as per NYPD statistics. Just this Monday, a 57 year old woman was wounded by a stray bullet on 116th and Fifth Avenue and not even an hour later, a 17 year old boy was shot in the face on 109th Street and Second Avenue. This is completely unacceptable and scarily becoming the norm.

A parent should never have to question their child’s safety at school or on a street in their neighborhood – a change must be made and Melissa remains dedicated to the cause. By strengthening and implementing gun buyback programs and a homicide reduction program, we can make the streets a safer place. “This is something we all have a role in. This is something we are tired of. We want peace in our streets,” Melissa said.

“We cannot afford to lose one more child in this city to senseless gun violence,” Melissa added. “To truly tighten gun control, we need the help of our partners in state and federal government, but there are things we can do here in New York City to help make our streets safer. A citywide gun recovery initiative is one of those things. The killing of so many young children in Newtown was an unspeakable tragedy. On so many occasions, our communities have also experienced the pain of children being taken from us too soon as a result of gun violence. I thank Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez and all of my colleagues who are adding their voice to this effort.”

This past Thursday, December 13th, ironically the night before the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy, Melissa marched with over 70 young people through El Barrio/ East Harlem calling for peace in our streets and an end to the senseless violence among young people that we’ve seen in recent years.

Everyone could feel the energy and passion in the air as the teens and their family members chanted in unison, “Put the Guns down, Throw ya Peace Signs Up,” and “No more silence, Stop the Violence!”, amplifying their voices throughout the neighborhood.

The march ended at 106th Street and 3rd avenue where Melissa spoke, along with Reverend Sean Gardner from East Ward Baptist Church, and several youth about why they were there as well as their visions for positive alternatives to violence. Melissa told us about her experience attending a grief session earlier that afternoon for Aubrey Jackson, a teenager who died last week after having been in a coma for 6 months due to an assault in the Taft Housing Development. She reiterated that violence and death cannot be tolerated as the norm for East Harlem’s younger generation.

We could have never foreseen what tragedy would strike the very next morning just 60-miles north of our community. This tragedy will only strengthen our commitment to ending gun violence and standing up for peace in our community and across the country.

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Please march with us this Thursday to support peace in El Barrio/East Harlem. “PUT THE GUNS DOWN, THROW THE PEACE SIGNS UP.” We’d love to see you there with anti-violence signs and noise makers. Let’s unite to support peace in our community!

WHO: Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito & the El Barrio/East Harlem Youth Violence Task Force; to be joined by youth, parents, schools, families, CBO’s and elected officialsWHAT: El Barrio/East Harlem Community Anti-Violence Peace MarchWHEN: Thursday, December 13, 2012; 4 PM – 6 PM. Leaving promptly at 4:30 PM.WHERE: At 4 PM, we will meet at 116th and Madison. Departing promptly at 4:30 PM, we will head east on 116th Street, south on Lexington Avenue and east on 106th Street to 3rd Avenue, where the march will end at the East Harlem Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony.

While you’re at La Marqueta for the Clothing & Textile Recycling Day, this Saturday, November 17th, Wholesale Greenmarket will be selling pre-packed fresh produce bags that are perfect for your Thanksgiving dinner. The reusable tote bag consists of potatoes, onions, sweet potatoes, carrots, winter greens and more. The pre-packed bag will cost $10, which you can pay for in cash, credit and EBT. Additionally, there will be aHarlem SeedsThanksgiving themed cooking demo. All is welcome!

Yesterday, Melissa visited NYCHA’s East River and Metro North Houses. Although some of the buildings are still without power and hot water, we are very thankful for NYCHA and Con Edison’sextensive work to make sure that NYCHA residents across New York City will have their power restored shortly. NYCHA has announced that once building systems are restored, they will be able to focus on proper clean up and recovery efforts.

You have the chance to sample food and drinks from 5 of El Barrio’s finest restaurants for free! Hope Community, with the support of the NYC Department of Small Business Services, is hosting their second El Barrio Taste Trolley this Saturday, October 27th, from 1 PM to 4 PM.

Since Mayor Bloomberg’s 2006 proclamation, every fall we celebrate Publicolor Day. Publicolor Day recognizes the Publicolor organization and their volunteers that prove that something as simple as color and design can make a deep and positive impact on struggling communities. Publicolor engages high-risk students, ages 12-21, in their education by offering a range of design-based programs and academic support. They are dedicated to revitalizing public and civic spaces by beautifying them with paint. Every Publicolor Day, the organization selects NYC public spaces to transform and East Harlem was fortunate enough to be home of one of the space’s chosen for this year’s Publicolor Day.

We are proud to announce the groundbreaking of PS109 becoming an affordable live/work space for El Barrio artists thanks to Artspace, America’s leader in arts-driven community transformation. El Barrio’s Artspace PS109, a $52 million project, will serve the East Harlem community by creating 90 units of permanently affordable live/work housing and an additional 12,000 square feet of space for arts and cultural activities on the ground floor and lower level. Along with El Barrio’s Operation Fightback, Artspace will be bringing a new life to the historic former public school, which is expected to take two years.

The residential units in El Barrio’s Artspace PS109 will be reserved for artists whose household income is less than 60% of the Area Median Income. To ensure that East Harlem artists are well-represented in the facility, the project will apply NYC Department of Housing Preservation & Development’s (HPD) lottery process, ensuring that at least 50% of the units are set aside for artists who are current residents of East Harlem.

The groundbreaking ceremony for this exciting new project is scheduled for Tuesday, October 2, 2012 from 4 – 8 PM at 215 East 99th Street. Melissa as well as Mayor Bloomberg, National Endowment for the Arts Chair Rocco Landesman, Cultural Affairs Commissioner Kate D. Levin, HPD Commissioner Matthew Wambua, Community Board 11 Chair Matthew Washington, Ford Foundation President Luis Ubinas, Artspace President Kelly Lindquist and El Barrio’s Operation Fightback Executive Director Gustavo Rosado will be in attendance. There will be performances by salsa legend Johnny Colon and his Orchestra, along with other local artists. The ceremony and performances are free and open to the public, so please join us!

Our office had a blast at the Sixth Annual Teen Fair! We thank all the organizations that participated and the talent that performed. Please enjoy just some of the pictures that we took and feel free to share any that you have from that day. We can’t wait to do this again next year!

It’s undeniable, we love our pets – but there is no excuse for not cleaning up after our dogs. Not only is it offensive to our sense of smell when dog waste is left on the street, but it contains harmful bacteria, pollutes groundwater, and sticks around for a long time. Stepping in it is more than just a nuisance – it’s an opportunity to spread bacteria to your home. Please help keep our neighborhood free of poop piles by joining us in the launch of this important public service health campaign, “There is No Poop Fairy in East Harlem,” this Saturday, August 25. Enjoy a day of six different informative and free workshops, and also get a chance to win a physical examination for your pet at Oliver’s Dog & Cat Clinic of East Harlem, a PetSmart gift certificate or doggie goodie bags; and of course there will be free biodegradable poop bags.

Celebrity Groomer to the Stars, Jorge Bendersky come by to discuss the importance of properly grooming your pet. ASPCA will be joining us to provide free or low cost spay/neuter services as well as providing free tick/flea prevention, rabies and distemper shots. NYC Department of Health & Mental Hygiene will be administering dog licenses and Animal Care and Control of NYC will be sharing the benefits of the feral cat Catch and Release Program. Come join the discussion about being a pet owner in a NYCHA development and reacquaint yourself with the much improved Jefferson Park Dog Run. For the complete schedule, see below.

WHO: Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito, Jorge Bendersky, ASPCA, Jefferson Park Dog Run Committee, Animal Care and Control of NYC, New York City Housing Authority, NYC Department of Health & Mental Hygiene, and Search and Care.

We can all agree that not cleaning up after your dog on the street is an unsanitary nuisance, so it’s time to do something about it. We’re looking for volunteers to assist with our initiative to promote being a responsible dog owner and member of the community.

On Saturday, August 25, we will be holding a series of events as the launch of the “There is no Poop Fairy in East Harlem” campaign. We will need volunteers to assist in setting up the event as well as going out in the community to help educate dog owners on the need to clean up after their dogs. If you’re available to help out during the morning and early afternoon on that Saturday, please call (212) 828-9800.

Please donate your time to help improve the cleanliness of our neighborhood. We really appreciate it and hope to hear from you soon & see you there!

Now through August 24, 2012, Bishop Joseph Harris, the Senior Pastor and founder of Life Changers Church and Ministries of Manhattan, is on a mission to collect as many book bags with school supplies for children ages 5 to 12 in East Harlem and Porte-Prince, Haiti.

In these hard times, there are many families in our community and in Haiti that cannot afford to provide their children with basic tools that they will need to succeed in school, such as back packs and school supplies. By simply just providing our youth with these tools to learn, we can help take this one burden off of these families’ backs whose burdens include worrying about where their next meal will come from or if they’ll have a roof over their head.

At the end of the Back to School Back Pack Drive, on August 25, 2012, Life Changers Church will throw a “Back 2 School Block Party” for all the young people of our East Harlem community. Stay tuned for more details on this event!

If you would like to contribute, Life Changers Church is suggesting you donate a book bag with school supplies inside such as: a 3-ring binder, erasers, folders, loose-leaf paper, crayons or markers, pens and pencils. Please contact Felipe Ayala to set up your donation: (914) 458-2096 or fayala@lifechangerschurch.org.

On Monday, Melissa, along with Speaker Quinn, attended the inauguration of the latest stall in El Barrio/East Harlem’s historic La Marqueta: Hot Bread Almacen, the first retail location from the Hot Bread Kitchen Bakery, whose thriving kitchen has been located in at La Marqueta since 2010. Funding from the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone made it possible to create the retail outlet for the non-profit Hot Bread Kitchen that provides primarily foreign-born and low-income women a chance to train and work in the growing specialty food industry, combining a workforce development program with a thriving bakery. Hot Bread Almacen currently seats 15 people. Be sure to stop by and check out this culinary destination!

Check out this video profile of Manhattan Neighborhood Network’s (MNN) East Harlem youth media facility, the MNN El Barrio Firehouse located on East 104th Street. As Melissa talks about in this segment, the Firehouse is giving community members a chance to represent our community through their eyes. Youth Programming provides high school students and interns with the chance to produce for the 10-hour Youth Channel block on MNN. Through the production and editing training that is provided, our young people are given the opportunity to be in a creative environment with unlimited potential.

For more information about MNN El Barrio Firehouse Community Media Center, visit their website.

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Concrete Safaris still has spots left in their East Harlem Summer Camp for children 7 to 11 years old. Camp has already started but runs until August 24th. This is perfect for an active and creative child. Their days will be filled with gardening, swimming, running, cycling, fishing, hiking, media projects, art, and more. Plus, every Friday is a field trip! Concrete Safaris prides themselves on empowering youth to be healthy leaders through green exercise programs that enrich the mind, body, community and environment.

Camp hours: Monday – Thursday, 8 AM – 1 PM; and Friday 8 AM – 2:30 PM

Campers are required to participate for all 5-days of the week. Three absences and/or failure to comply with the program rules may result in suspension.

Melissa participated in a walking tour of East Harlem last Wednesday with reporters and the American Beverage Association to see how the soda ban would potentially affect local businesses. After speaking one-on-one with restaurant owners, all previous concerns about the ban have only been further reinforced.

The ban will cover soda fountain drinks and teas at any establishment that receives a letter grade from the city’s Health Department. That list includes restaurants, fast-food restaurants, delis, movie theaters, sports arenas and food carts that will be prohibited from selling sugary drinks that are larger than 16 ounces. However, this does not prevent consumers from going next door to where they’re eating to purchase a large soda at a grocery store or bodega. That is the major concern for many local East Harlem establishments – most of which are sandwiched between grocery stores, delis, and bodegas.

“This is just a distraction,” Melissa said about the proposed ban. “East Harlem has the highest proportion of obese adults in New York City and nearly half of our residents report not exercising at all. We should be focusing on changing our communities’ attitudes towards health and that starts with enforcing mandatory physical education in public schools and increasing access to fresh, healthy foods. Only 3% of bodegas in East Harlem carry fresh vegetables. We need to get to the root of the problem and stop focusing on the size of a cup of soda.”

Matthew Shaw was a motivated young man who was loved by many. His life was tragically cut short on July 4, 2012 just before midnight. Matthew was visiting home briefly in-between graduating from Le Moyne College in Syracuse with his Bachelors of Science degree in Business Administration and Finance, and starting his Master’s at SUNY Albany University for economics. While stepping out with a couple of friends to go to the store, he was fatally shot in the chest at 112 East 128th Street in front of AK Houses. There have been no arrests made in connection to the shooting.

Matthew’s wake will be held tomorrow, July 12, 2012, at the Unity Funeral Chapel (2352 Frederick Douglass Boulevard). Viewing hours are between 3 and 7 PM which will be immediately followed by the service at 7 PM.

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We are delighted to announce that the Parks Department, Department for The Aging and Deputy Mayor Linda Gibbs’ office will be holding the public launch of 14 city-wide swimming pools’ senior hours at our very own Thomas Jefferson Park Pool on Monday, July 9th at 10 AM. But the party doesn’t start then – the East Harlem Senior Pool Party will start at 9 AM on Monday, July 9th to kick-off our senior hours which will be every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9 to 11 AM (July 9 – August 31).

In response to our local seniors’ requests, Melissa pushed for Thomas Jefferson Park Pool to be the first to offer dedicated hours to our seniors as a part of the Age Improvement District initiative alongside with New York Academy of Medicine last summer. Because of Melissa’s efforts, our community will no longer be the only one benefiting from senior hours at public pools, which promotes recreation and physical well-being, but now 13 other pools city-wide will be able to as well. Throughout the summer, a qualified instructor will be at each of these sites teaching organized water exercises and swim instruction.

“I am always proud when our community of El Barrio/East Harlem can serve as a laboratory for successful, innovative initiatives like this one,” Melissa commented. “We were the first to launch an Age Improvement District with the New York Academy of Medicine and the first to offer dedicated hours at our public pool for seniors. It is truly wonderful to see these senior pool hours being offered across the five boroughs this year. I thank Commissioner Benepe and the Parks Department for expanding this program citywide, as well as all of our local partners who are helping to make our community a healthier and more livable place to grow old.”

So come join us for this pool party to kick-off a monumental swim season for our seniors. We welcome all those over the age of 50 to enjoy the free snacks and music with your neighbors. To get the full list of pools participating in senior hours – click here. We hope to see you there!

WHAT: East Harlem’s Senior Pool Party & the launch of Senior Hours at public pools city-wide

WHERE: Thomas Jefferson Park Pool, First Avenue and East 112th Street

WHEN: Monday, July 9th; 9 AM (the launch of Senior Hours will be at 10 AM)

On Father’s Day, Melissa marched with the East Harlem contingent and tens of thousands of other New Yorkers to call for an end to the NYPD’s Stop and Frisk policy and racial profiling in New York City. Melissa has been an outspoken leader in the growing movement against stop and frisk and has sponsored a resolution in support of state legislation to end the thousands of unjust marijuana arrests of young men of color that result from police making them empty their pockets during stop and frisks. Melissa is supporting passage of The Community Safety Act sponsored by Council Member Jumaane Williams, which would ban racial profiling by the NYPD and seriously reform the stop & frisk policy.